OGDENSBURG -- With a limited amount of time available, the candidates for Sussex County freeholder limited themselves to shortened versions of their stump speeches as they met the public Tuesday evening at the annual Ogdensburg Historical Society's meet the candidates night.

With candidates for the 11th Congressional District, Borough Council and local school board, as well as county freeholder on the agenda, the two Democrats, Jim Tighe and Susan Williams, and two Republicans, Gail Phoebus and Dennis Mudrick, seeking a seat on the freeholder board had a total of just eight minutes at the microphone, with half of that given to an introductory speech, and two minutes each for "rebuttal" and to answer a single question.

Phoebus, the only one of the four to have held elected office, said she was born in Sussex County and has owned a business in the county for 30 years so "I know what it is to run a business. I can manage a budget, I can understand people."

She talked about her more than six years on the Andover Township Committee and establishing the Andover Economic Development Committee.

"We have done many shared services," she told the audience of about 50 people, noting the staff in town hall has been cut from 15 to just five, "yet our level of service has not declined."

Mudrick, a Sparta resident who is a school principal in Vernon, said, "Faith and family are my life, and my work is my passion."

In the primary, Mudrick ran on a platform of "real tax reduction," and he repeated that Tuesday.

He said he wants to improve the business climate in the county and said, "If we don't need to be in a business, county government should not be in competition with private business."

Tighe, who works for a window cleaning service in Vernon and lives in Wantage, acknowledged difficulty of being a Democrat in a strongly Republican area, but then quoted the late New York City Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia: "There's no Democrat or Republican way to clean streets."

His top priority, aside from listening to people from all levels of government and assisting residents with government, would be support for Sussex County Community College. "I wouldn't be standing here before you this evening if it wasn't for the 2 1/2 years I spent there," he said.

Williams, who lives in Sparta, also acknowledged "the uphill battle as a Democrat" she faces and used part of her time to comment about her conversation earlier in the day with Gov. Chris Christie. She said she agreed with his statement that there needs to be cooperation across the aisle.

"I don't believe in all or nothing," she said, "and I don't look at any problem with an all-or-nothing lens."

The question asked of each candidate was to "identify the major problem facing the county and your solution."

Mudrick said it was taxes, "real tax relief," and said, "You're going to need a real candidate with real solutions." He then listed several couples and their property tax liability, but offered no program of relief.

Tighe said unemployment was "obviously" the major problem and said infrastructure projects would be one way to put people back to work.

He also picked up the theme, noting that even if the two Democrats were to win, they would still be a minority on the freeholder board.

"It's not about being a Democrat or Republican, it's about putting the residents first," he said.

Williams agreed the major problem "is a money issue," but said simply cutting taxes isn't enough; "we also need more revenue."

She noted that Sussex County is being called "The Playground of New Jersey" in the soon-to-be-released state master plan and that the county needs to build on tourism.

"It's taxes, taxes, taxes," said Phoebus, who went on to note that many volunteer organizations, such as fire departments, are providing services that otherwise would take more taxes.

She said volunteer fire departments are not keeping members because of the big amount of time needed for training and blamed "those labor unions in Trenton" for the requirements.

Because of the dangers involved in firefighting and rescue, state and federal agencies require training and equipment similar to that of paid firefighters for the safety of the firefighters.

The four freeholder candidates are scheduled to meet again at 7 p.m. Monday at Newton High School Auditorium in a more formal debate setting.

The event is being co-sponsored by the League of Women Voters of New Jersey and the New Jersey Herald and admission is free.

Readers who want to submit questions for the candidates in advance can submit them to newsroom@njherald.com with "freeholder debate" in the subject line.